Microsoft Given EU Green Light To Buy Yahoo Search

The European Commission has confirmed that Microsoft’s plan’s to acquire Yahoo’s search business won’t harm competition.

This decision will provide a boost to Microsoft which plans to integrate Yahoo’s web search capability in order to enable it to compete more strongly with Google. The EU regulator considers that the acquisition will increase competition in search and search advertising.

The ruling leaves Microsoft and Yahoo free to complete work on a proposed 10-year deal which will see Yahoo using Microsoft’s Bing search engine with featured advertisements running alongside search results, reports Bloomberg.

In an industry dominated by Google, Bing has seen improved market share for eight consecutive months. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo look set to mount a significant challenge to Google in this space.

A leading innovator in the IT Outsourcing industry, Tim is often on the move but can be regularly found in Manchester and London, UK. His focus is on social and mobile technologies but given half a chance he'll try to sneak music or football into his blog-posts. Tim can be found at One Greener Day and you can also follow @timdifford on Twitter.